Renovating vs. Building New: The Environmental Merits

This presentation focuses on the environmental implications of two case study projects involving extensive renovation and rehabilitation of older Canadian buildings to serve new functions. Both of the case study projects were submitted as Canadian entries to the Green Building Challenge. One deals with an old locomotive manufacturing and repair facility in Montreal that has been converted to a high tech office building. The other study deals with redevelopment of an entire city block in Winnipeg, with retention of one major building and the facades of several others. The Athena Institute assessed the environmental implications of both of these projects using its Environmental Impact Estimator software, the only North American software for life cycle assessment of whole buildings and building assemblies. The software allows a full life cycle assessment of the environmental effects of different design options and material mixes, and will also take account of operating energy use, including pre-combustion effects, if results are available from a separate energy simulation tool.

Most popular related searches

Related articles

Green building refers to an environment friendly structure which is built in such a manner that it continues to be environmentally responsible and resource efficient throughout its life. When we say throughout its life, it includes everything right from an eco-friendly design to the use of material which will make sure that the environment is not harmed even when the structure in question is demolished. The concept of green architecture has come a long way, with modern green buildings being built by taking into...

Introduction
Green building has received increased attention over the past decade from both environmental economists and policymakers. While there is no single definition of “green buildings” or its related policy, researchers and organizations tend to emphasize resource efficiency in building and reducing the impacts of buildings on human health and the environment. Thus a growing array of building sector policies have been implemented in the United States and other countries aimed at energy efficienc...

You can actually measure, at every point of the design and project development, where you are and systematically build upon the performance of the building, where you want to be. If you want to see how you can go up the ladder of sustainable performance, you would want to use a suitable green rating process.
Click to Read More

EPC World Magazine, had a Q&A with Mr. Juzer S Kothari, Managing Director of Conserve Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Founded in 2005, Conserve is a global consulting firm based in India with expertise in high performance- energy efficient-sustainable buildings ; and is committed to enable organizations conserve energy, water, materials and resources. The firm has worked on 200+ Major Projects including 50+ Gold and 25+ Platinum rated projects for the past 10 years.
Click to Read More

Green buildings are not just good for the environment— they are good for your wallet also.
Green building features are gradually becoming second nature for sustainably built home environments and infrastructures. Their technical nuances are so overwhelming it is assumed that the concept of ‘green building’ is exclusive to real estate builders and developers. Thus, sustainable features and relevance of the green building for end consumers (i.e., residents) are usually overlooked. As a practitioner...

Customer comments

No comments were found for Renovating vs. Building New: The Environmental Merits. Be the first to comment!

Add your comment

Great! comment successfully added!

Contact

Your message:

Your email

Your first name

Your last name

I would like to receive periodic email updates and special offers from select suppliers.